Smoke-consuming furnace.



H. O. ALFORD. SMOKE GONSUMING FURNACE. APPLICATION FILED 11.5, 1911. RENEWED 001". 6, 1913.

1,095,489. Patented May 5, 1914.

A TTORNE Y.

H. G. ALFORD. SMOKE GONSUMING FURNACE, APPLICATION IYILED APR.5, 1911. RENEWED OUT. s, 1913.

Patented May 5, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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[N VEVTOR. f2 Car/0!! A [ford BY /TTTORNE 1".

WITNESSES:

Patented May 5, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

H. G. ALFORD.

SMOKE GONSUMING FURNACE. APPLICATION FILED 1111.5, 1911. RENEWED 001. 6, 1913.

INVENTOR. H-Carm/M/ford- ATTORNEY.

WITNESSES:

UNITED str TEs rarnn'r cam i1. v

HARVEY CARROLL ALronn. of etc. more, MISSOURI.

SMOKE-CONSUMING FURNACE.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

' I -PatentedMay5, 1914.

Application filed April isnfser ai No. 619,123. Renewed-October e, 1913. Serial m. 793,738.

' To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARVEY CARROLL An ronn, citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Smoke-Consuming Furnaces, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention has relation to .improvements in smoke-consuming furnaces; and it consists in the novel details of construction more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the'clainns. I

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a middle vertical longitudinal sect-ion taken through 'a water-tube boiler furnace showing my invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section on the brokenline 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is ahorizontal section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a top plan of the wind-box, parts being broken away; Fig. 5 isan enlarged vertical sectional detail on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal section taken through the fuel-feed-hopper and tube; Fig. 7 is an enlarged horizontal sectional detail on'the line 77 of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a vertical crosssection on the line 88 of Fig. 6; Fig. 9 is a cross-section on the line 9 9 of Fig. 7;-and Fig. 10 is a sectional detail of the feed-tube showing the rotatable outer cut-off valvecylinder partly turned.

.The present improvementv thoughv [spa-.-

cifically illustrated in. connection with a water-tube boiler, contemplates a smoke con K suming furnace capableof general a-pplica-- tion in the arts. particularly that portion identified with theremovable fire-boxsection. 1 f

It has for its objectto provide a furnace capableof burning liquid, gaseous, or solid fuel, the method of combustion thereof being "such-as toinsure' complete consumption of thefsmoke'and gases not usnallywholly exi-- dized; one in whichth'e supply of air may be accurately proportioned to the quantity of fuel to be consumed; one by which the fuel supply can be accurately regulated in the matter of feed; one-in which the maximum number of-heat units from the fuel is rendered availablegone which dispenses with i the prevailing grate to support the fuel; one

- inwhich the fuel feed is automatic; and one possessing further and other structural features the advantages of which will'be fully apparent from a detailed description of the invention which is as follows:

a Well-known type of water-tube boiler, F the furnaces as a whole, A the bridge-wall,

asecond deflector, C the forward compartv tion, I provide a fire-brick extension 1 mounted on rollers 2 by which it may be wheeled up to the furnace F, suitable ribs or keys 3 being formed on the extension whereby it. may be locked or keyed in posisuitable mechanical manner will answer such purpose. Mounted on I-beams 4 or equivalent structural members disposed in front of the furnace on top of the extension 1.

to which is coupled an air-feed or supply pipe 6 leading from any suitable blower or equivalent'source of compressed air supply (not shown), anupwardly tending wall or deflector 7 flaring inwardly to conform to v the side tapering walls of the wind-box at the ,intake (the deflector being thus trianv gular in'shape), the purpose of said wall 7 being to direct the inflowing air well against. the roof of the box and at an angle to such roof, this action, tending to effect an even distribution of the air within the box. and thus ane'ven pressure against the walls of within the box tends to an equal and even escape thereof through the nozzles 8 leading from the loottom of the box, and discharging through the roof of the extension 1 into jment,"chamber, or section 9 of the fire-box. the lower section 9 being separated from constricted passage or neck 9". The constrict'hedeflecting faces of which terminate in superposed planes; the bottom of the deflecting. face of the outer wall 10 being higher than the lower edge of the. face of the wall 11. 'These faces slope and curve gently Referring to the drawings, B represents 1- the deflector wall or extension thereof. l)

ment of the combustion chamber, and C the is a wind-box 5 having a tapering intake end I the same. This, even pressure. of the air what'may be termed the upper compart;

the upper. by: a connecting comparatively tion to the furnace Wall although any other tion 9" results from the opposing deflector walls 10, 11; respectively, the lower edges of d d. the extension or prolongation ofll-O the face of the wall 10intersecting the face F of the wall 11 at a point above the lower edge of the face of the latter wall (Fig. 1). These faces (and the walls) are kept com- 5 paratively cool by the impinging air escap ing from the adjacent superposed nozzles 8, though the cooling may be further extended by water-cooling pipes penetrating the walls, these pipes not being shown, as that is a common expedient well understood in the art. The lower firebox compartment or section 9 leads to the front compartment or section C of the combustion chamber, the front concave face (Z of the bridge-wall A curving rearwardly and gently upwardly so as to deflect the cinders and ashes (when solid fuel is used) upwardly and rearwardly over the wall or plate a, whence they will drop into the compartment C, by which time they will have cooled off to a point be low the temperature of possible fusion, a temperature at which were they to lodge on the front face of the bridge wall, would cause them to cake and adhere to said face. Formed in the roof of the compartment 9 of the fire-box (or roof of the extension 1) is a downwardly flaring fuel-feed mouth 12 (not necessarily continuous however as shown) disposed longitudinally of the compartment 9 but transversely to the furnace F, the upper portion of said mouth or open ing being substantially a slit or being comparatively constricted (Figs. 1, 3). This slit receives the powdered fuel (or liquid fuel) discharged thereinto from a series of oblong openings 13 disposed in line along the bottom of a feed-tube 14 mounted over the opening 12 between the wind-box 5 and roof of the extension 1, the available area of any opening 13 being regulated by the registering openings 13 of an outer rotatable sleeve 15 loosely embracing the tube 14:, the openings 13 being in the shape of truncated triangles whose opposite ends ride over the corresponding ends of the openings 13, the triangular portion of such opening 13 gradually cutting down or shearing the area of the opening 13 as the sleeve is turned about the axis of the tube 14. The sleeve 15 thus acts as a valve-cylinder or cutoff, being manipulated by a lever arm 16 positioned along the same at any convenient point, one end of the sleeve terminating in a flange 17 operating in a bearing plate or disk 18 secured to the vertical wall of the base of the fuel-hopper 19 in which the fuel is stored and from which it is delivered. The end of the feed-tube 1 1 nearest the hopper 19 terminates in a cylindrical reduced portion 14' which in turn connects with the trough 20 (substantially U-shaped in crosssection, Fig. 8) at the bottom of the base of the hopper 19, the sides of the trough having secured thereto the bottoms of the converging plates 21 forming the throat or disnoeaase charge chute of the hopper, the upper ends of the plates being secured to the upper portions of the bottom walls of said hopper 19. Through the common center of the trough 20, neck or reduced portion 11 and tube 14 passes the shaft 22 of a screw-feed, the larger screw-section 8 thereof operating in the tube 14 proper, and'the reduced section 8 of said screw operating in the parts 20, 1 1 (Fig. 6), the shaft 22 passing through the wall of the hopper 19 and terminating adjacent thereto in a bevel gear-wheel 23 which meshes with a pinion on a drive shaft 25 leading from any source of power (not shown). The sleeve or cylinder-valve 15 is preferably supported in bearings m,m, on top of the fire-box extension 1 (Fig. 2). The purpose of the offset between the tube 14; proper and the reduced portion 14, whereby there is called into requisition a screw-feed having a large and small section (8, s) is ,for the purpose of permitting the neck 14 to renzain comparatively full of 'fuel as against its loosely distributed state in the larger tube 14, to prevent any gases from the fire-box from backing up through the discharge ports 13 and through the tube 1-1 into the hopper 19, the comparatively compact and full condition of the neck 14: preventing the escape of the gases therethrough, the fuel acting as a seal against such back pressure. The overflow or excess of fuel, or that not dropped by the feed into the fire-box through the ports 13,

'3', and opening 12, is discharged through the free end of the tube 14: into a receptacle or hopper 26 (Fig. 2) whence it is conducted or carried back to the feed-hopper 19. The" baffle or deflecting wall 11 is preferably propped up by posts If, t, of fire-brick or the like, as shown, other features illustrated but not here referred to being well understood in the art and requiring no detailed description in the present description;

The operation of the furnace is Sl1bSlH1 tially as follows :Fire is started by depositing sticks of wood (through a hand- I hole S, Fig. 1) across the baffle Walls 10, 11, the wood being preferably moistened. with kerosene or other hydrocarbon and ignited. Some coal may be deposited on the wood, and the blast started through the wind-box The air currents or jets delivered. through the nozzles 8 will cause rapid combustion of the material, and in a short time heat the walls of the fire-box. Thereupon the screw-feed shaft 22 is started, the hopper 19 being filled with powdered coal (or equivalent. fuel), the contents of the hopper gravitating down the plates 21, 21, into the trough 20, whence the fuel is fed forward or advanced by the screw 8, s, and as it-advances it drops through the registering openings 13, 13' (the size of available opening being regulated by a rotation of the cylthe battle or deflector walls 10, 11.

course, the air flowing through the nozzles H at anv velocity naturally expands the moment it entersthe chamber 9, such expansion filling the entire chamber with air and contacting with the falling fuel, the latter burning while suspended inmid-air. The burning fuel is thenconstrained to pass through the comparatively narrow or 0011-. stricted neclror passage 9", the velocity of the products obviously increasing by reason of the constriction, said increased velocity driving them on into the bottom chamber 9 whence at a somewhat. lower velocitlyfthev follow the gentle upward curve ofthefront face 17 of the bridge-wall A, the curvature of the face (Z being such as to carry the products "readily over the plate a when they descend into the compartment C of the combustion chamber. In this way, any and all ashes and cinders are precipitated in'the rear chamber C, by which time their temperatu're has dropped below the point of fusion. Werethe cinders allowed toi lodge in the compartment C against the bridge wall, the danger of said cinders adhering to the wall as a result of fusion would be imminent, as the said cinders are highly. heated, the temperature being sufficient to fuse the mass against the'wall A. The hot cinders and ashes in the compartment C by radiating heatassist in the heating of the boiler. By positioning the .lower end of the deflecting face of the wall 11 below that of the wall 10,}1ny choking of the neck 9" with fuel is'avoided as qulte obvious from the drawing; at the same tune the rebound or reflection of the gases-being in different directions, a. moreintimate contact between the gases, air, and fuel is obtained.

The air forced into the wind-box 5, in passing over the inclined wall or deflector 7. has an upward trend. or toward the roof of the box, and when it once fills'the box, the pressure thereof .is substantially uniform against the entire bottom wall of the box, so that each nozzle 8 receives the same or equal quantity of air, this resulting in an even distribution of air pressure jets over the top of the fire-box. The deflector 7 thus acts as an equalizer, since by its use the pressures over the several nozzles 8 are equal. Any gas which may tend to escape from the fire-box upwardly through the passage 12 into the flue 14, will be effectively.

choked off by thefuel in the reduced neck 14: inclosing the screw-feed or conveyer s.

flhe downward flare of the passage 12 is important not' only for the reason already given" (that of allowing the fuel to spread) but the heatof the air and gases reflected from the faces of the walls 10, 11, are projected to the very' mouth or intake slit of said passage, so that combustion of the fuel begins the moment it leaves the openings 13, 13, of the feed. It will be observed that the walls 10, 11 is such as to shed the fuel,

so that practically no fuel can remain lodged thereon, and what may tend toadhere is swept o-flby the impinging air currents, the latter being reflected against the precipitating fuel and in a general direction toward the passage 12;" It is. intended of course that the consumptionof. the fuel shall take place in the main in the upper chamber of the fire-box, the constriction 9", (where solid fuel is used) allowing free precipitation. of the cinders, ashes and partially consumed products into'the bottom chamber.

.The' zone of combustion may be said to extend from the lower edge of the deeper wall 11 to the roof of the upper fire-box compartment or chamber, the cinders and ashes being dropped along the aXis of this zone,

which ax1s passes substantially through the center of the constriction 9". It will thus be seen that'by reason of the precipitation of undesirable products from the upper chamber the rebounding air currents are left free to combine with the falling and spreading spray of fuel.

the inclination of Having described my invention, what I 1. In a furnace, a fire box provided with a compartment bounded on two sides by opposing walls inclined to shed solid fuel introduced into the compartment, means for feeding fuel into said compartment at points above-said inclined walls, and means for projecting currents of air against the inclined walls and causing a rebound thereof, to intimately mix with the fuel.

2/ In a furnace, a fire-box provided with an upper compartment bounded on two sides by inclined opposing deflecting walls, means for feeding fuel mto said. compartment, means for injecting air into said compartment against the faces of said walls and causing a rebound thereof toward the point of discharge of the fuel into said compartment the air so deflected commingling with the fuel, the bottoms ofthe deflecting walls being separated by a constricted passage allowing free precipitation therethrough of the spent or consumed products, anda bottom compartment for receiving said spent. products. 1 s

3. In a fhrnace, a fire-box provided with an upper compartment bounded on two sidesby inclined opposing deflecting walls converging downwardly and spaced apart at their lower edges by a constricted passage, said edges being disposed in superposed planes, means for feeding fuel into the compartment through the roof thereof, means for projecting currents of air against the faces of the inclined walls and effecting a rebound of the air toward the point of discharge of the fuel into the compartment the air so deflected conimingling with the fuel, and a bottom compartment communicating with the top compartment through said constricted passage.

4. In a furnace, a fire-box provided with a top and bottom compartment, an intermediate neck connecting the same and forming a constricted vertical passage for the free precipitation of the consumed products from the top to the bottom compartment, the upper compartment being bounded on two sides by opposing walls inclined to shed solid fuel introduced into the compartment,

means for feeding fuel into the upper compartment at points above the inclined walls,

and means for projecting currents of air against the inclined walls and causlng a re bound thereof to intimately mix with the fuel.

memes a compartment bounded on two sides by opposing walls inclined to shed solid fuel introduced into the compartment, means for feeding fuel into said compartment at points above said inclined walls, means for projecting currents of air against the inclined walls and causing a rebound thereof, to in timately mix with the fuel, and means allowing for free precipitation of the com bustion products out of said compartment.

6. In a furnace, a fire-box provided with a compartment bounded 011 two sides by inclined opposing deflecting walls, means for feeding fuel into said compartment, means for projecting air currents into said compartment against the faces of said deflect-- ing walls and causing a rebound thereof against the fuel discharged into the compartment the air so deflected commingling with the fuel, and means for allowing for the escape of the products of combustion.

. In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

HARVEY CARRULL ALFURD. s

Witnesses: l EMIL STAREK,

JCS. A. lVfIGHRL 5. In a furnace, a fire-box provided with 

